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MESSAGE  OF  THE  PRESIDENT. 


To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 

of  t/ie  Confederate  States  of  America  : 

It  is  with  satisfaction  that  I  welcome  your  presence  at  an  earlier 
day  than  that  usual  for  your  session,  and  with  confidence  that  I 
invoke  the  aid  of  your  counsels  at  a  time  of  such  public  exigency. 
The  campaign  which  was  commenced  almost. simultaneously  with  your 
session  early  in  May  last,  and  which  was  still  in  progress  at  your 
adjournment  in  the  middleof  June,  has  not  yet  reached  its  close.  It 
has  been  prosecuted  on  a  scale  and  with  an  energy  heretofore  une- 
qualled. When  we  revert  to  the  condition  of  our  country  at  the 
inception  of  the  operations  of  the  present  year,  to  the  magnitude 
of  the  preparations  made  by  the  enemy,  the  number  of  his  forces,  the 
accumulation  of  his  warlike  supplies,  and  the  prodigality  with  which 
his  vast  resources  have  been  lavished  in  the  attempt  to  render  success 
assured  ;  when  we  contrast  the  numbers  and  means  at  our  disposal  for 
resistance,  and  when  we  contemplate  the  results  of  a  struggle  appa- 
rently so  unequal,  we  cannot  fail,  while  rendering  the  full  meed  of 
deserved  praise  to  our. generals  and  soldiers,  to  perceive  that  a  Power 
higher  than  man  has  willed  our  deliverance,  and  gratefully  to  recog- 
nise the  protection  of  a  kind  Providence  in  enabling  us  successfully 
to  withstand  the  utmost  efforts  of  the  enemy  for  <?ur  subjugation. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  year  the  State  of  Texas  was  partially  in 
possession  of  the  enemy,  and  large  portions  of  Louisiana  and  Arkansas 
lay  apparently  defenceless.  Of  the  Federal  soldiers  who  invaded 
Texas,  none  are  known  to  remain  except  as  prisoners  of  war.  In 
northwestern -Louisiana,  a  large  anl  well  appointed  army,  aided  by  a 
powerful  fleet,  was  repeatedly  defeated  and  deemed  itself  fortunate  in 
finally  escaping  with  a  loss  of  one-third  of  its  numbers,  a  large  part 
of  its  military  trains  and  many  transports  and  gunboats.  The  ene- 
my's occupation  of  that  State  is  reduced  to  the  narrow  district  com- 
manded by  the  guns  of  his  fleet.  Arkansas  has  been  recovered  with 
tfoe  exception  of  a  few  fortified  posts,  while  our  forces  have  penetrated 
into  central  Missouri,  affording  to  our  oppressed  brethren  in  that  State 
an  opportunity,  of  which  many  have  availed  themselves,  of  striking 
for  liberation  from  the  tyranny  to  which  they  have  been  subjected. 


On  the  east  of  the  Mississippi,  in  spite  of  some  reverses, 
we  have  much  cause  for  gratulation.  The  enemy  hoped  to  effect 
during  the  present  year,  by  concentration  of  forces,  the  conquest 
which  he  had  previously  failed  to  accomplish  by  more  extended  ope- 
rations. Compelled,  therefore,  to  withdraw  or  seriously  to  weaken 
the  strength  of  the  armies  of  occupation  at  different  points,  he  has 
afforded  us  the  opportunity  of  recovering  possession  of  extensive  dis- 
tricts of  our  territory.  Nearly  the  whole  of  northern  and  western 
Mississippi,  of  northern  Alabama,  and  of  western  Tennessee  are  again 
in  our  possession  ;  and  all  attempts  to  penetrate  from  the  coast  line 
into  the  interior  of  the  Atlantic  and  Gulf  States  bave  been  baffled. 
On  the  entire  ocean  and  gulf  coast  of  the  Confederacy,  the  whole 
success  of  the  enemy,  with  the  enormous  naval  resources  at  his  com- 
mand, has  been  limited  to  the  capture  of  the  onter  defences  of  MobHe 
Bay. 

If  we  now  turn  to  the  results  accomplished  by  the  two  great  armies, 
so  confidently  relied  on  by  the  invaders  as  sufficient  to  secure  the  sub- 
version of  our  Government  and  the  subjection  of  our  people  to  foreign 
domination,  we  have  still  greater  cause  for  devout  gratitude  to  Divine 
Power.  la  southwestern  Virginia,  successive  armies  which  threat- 
ened the  capture  of  Lynchburg  and  Saltville  have  been  routed  and 
driven  out  of  the  country,  and  a  portion  of  eastern  Tennessee  recon- 
quered by  our  troops.  In  northern  Virginia  extensive  districts  for- 
merly occupied  by  the  enemy  are  now  free  from  their  presence.  In 
the  lower  Valley,  their  general,  rendered  desperate  by  his  inability 
to  maintain  a  hostile  occupation,  has  resorted  to  the  infamous  expe- 
dient of  converting  a  fruitful  land  into  a  desert  by  burning  its  mills, 
granaries,  and  homesteads,  and  destroying  the  food,  standing  crops, 
live  stock  and  agricultural  implements  of  peaceful  non-combatants. 
The  main  army,  after  a  series  of  defeats  in  which  its  losses  have  been 
enormous ;  after  attempts  by  raiding  parties  to  break  up  our  railroad 
communications,  which  have  resulted  in  the  destruction  of  a  large 
part  of  the  cavalry  engaged  in  the  work ;  after  constant  repulse  of 
of  repeated  assaults  on  our  defensive  lines,  is,  with  the  aid  of  heavy 
reinforcements,  but  with,  it  is  hoped,  waning  prospect  of  further  pro- 
gress in  the  design,  still  engaged  in  an  effort,  commenced  more  than 
four  months  ago,  to  capture  the  town  of  Petersburg. 

The  army  of  General  Sherman,  although  succeeding  at  the  end  of 
the  summer  in  obtaining  possession  of  Atlanta,  has  been  unable  to 
secure  any  ultimate  advantage  from  this  success.  The  same  general 
who,  in  February  last,  marched  a  large  army  from  Vicksburg  to 
Meridian  with  no  other;  result  than  being  forced  to  march  back  again, 
was  able,  by  the  aid  of  greatly  increased  numbers,  and  after  much 
delay,  to  force  a  passage  from  Chattanooga  to  Atlanta,  only  to  be  for 
the  second  time  compelled  to  withdraw  on  the  line  of  his  advance, 
without  obtaining  control  of  a  single  mile  of  territory  beyond  the 
narrow  track  of  his  march,  and  without  gaining  aught  beyond  the 
precarious  possession  of  a  few  fortified  points  in  which  he  is  compelled 
to  maintain  heavy  garrisons,  and  which  are  menaced  with  recapture. 


The  lessons  afforded  by  the  history  of  this  war  are  fraught  with 
instruction  and  encouragement.     Repeatedly  during  the  war  have 
formidable  expeditions  been   directed  by  the  enemy  against  points 
ignorantly  supposed  to  be  of  vital  importance  to  the  Confederacy. 
Some  of  these  expeditions  have,  at  immense  cost,  been  successful; but 
in  no  instance  have  the  promised  fruits  been  reaped.     Again,  in  the 
present  campaign,  was  the  delusion  fondly  cherished  that  the  capture 
of  Atlanta  and  Richmond  would,  if  effected,  end  the  war  by  the  over- 
throw of  our  Government  and  the  submission  of  our  people.     We  can 
now  judge  by  experience  how  unimportant  is  the  influence  of  the 
former  event  upon  our  capacity  for  defence,  upon  the  courage  and. 
spirit  of  the  people,  and  the  stability  of  the  Government.     We  may„ 
in  like  manner,  judge  that  if  the  campaign  against  Richmond  had  re- 
sulted in  success  instead  of  failure ;  if  the  valor  of  the  army  under 
the  leadership  of  its  accomplished  commander  had  resisted  in  vain  the 
overwhelming  masses  which  were,  on  the  contrary,  decisively  repulsed; 
if  we  had  been  compelled  to  evacuate  Richmond  as  well  as  Atlanta,, 
the  Confederacy  would  have  remained  as  erect  and  defiant  as  ever. 
Nothing  could  have  been  changed  in  the  purpose  of  its  Government,, 
in  the  indomitable  valor  of  its  troops,  or  in  the  unquenchable  spirit 
of  its  people.     The  baffied  and  disappointed  foe  would  in   vain  have 
scanned  the  reports  of  your  proceedings,  at  some  new  legislative  seat, 
for  any  indication  that  progress  had  been  made  in  his  gigantic  task  of' 
conquering  a  free  people.     The  truth  so  patent  to  us  must   ere  long; 
be  forced  upon  the  reluctant  Northern  mind.  There  are  no  vital  points . 
on  the  preservation  of  which  the  continued  existence  of  the  Confed* 
eracy  depends.     There  is  no  military  success  of  the  enemy  which  can 
accomplish  its  destruction.     Not  the  fall  of  Richmond,  nor  Wilming- 
ton, nor  Charleston,  nor  Savannah,  nor  Mobile,  nor  of  all  combined, 
can  save  the  enemy  from  the  constant  and  exhaustive  drain  of  blood 
and  treasure  which  must  continue  until  he  shall  discover,  that  no 
peace  is  attainable  unless  based  on  the  recognition  of  our  indefeasible 
rights. 

Before  leaving  this  subject  it  is  gratifying  to  assure  you  that  the  • 
military  supplies  essentially  requisite  for  public  defence  will  be  found/, 
as  heretofore,  adequate  to  our  needs  ;  and  that  abundant  crops  have- 
rewarded  the  labor  of  the  farmer,  and  rendered  abortive  the  inhuman^ 
attempt  of  the  enemy  to  produce,  by  devastation,  famine  among  the  • 
people. 

Foreign  Relations. 

It  is  not  in  my  power  to  announce  any  change  in  the  conduct  of 
foreign  powers.  No  such  action  has  been  taken  by  the  Christian, 
nations  of  Europe  as  might  justly  have  been  expected  from  their  his- 
tory,  from  the  duties  imposed  by  international  law,  and  from  the  claims  i 
of  humanity.  It  is  charitable  to  attribute  their  conduct  to  no  worse 
motive  than  indifference  to  the  consequences  of  a  struggle  which  shakes  - 
only  the  Republican  portion  of  the  American  continent;  and  not  to 


ascribe  to  design  a  course  calculated  to  ensure  the  prolongation  of 
hostilities. 

No  instance  in  history  is  remembered  by  me  in  which  a  nation  pre- 
tending to  exercise  dominion  over  another,  asserting  its  independence* 
has  been  the  first  to  concede  the  existence  of  such  independence.  No 
case  can  be  recalled  to  my  mind  in  which  neutral  powers  have  failed 
to*&et  the  example  of  recognizing  the  independence  of  a  nation,  when 
satisfied  of  the  inability  of  its  enemy  to  subvert  its  Government;  and 
this  too,  in  cases  where  the  previous  relation  between  the  contending 
parties  had  been  confessedly  that  of  mother-country  ami  dependent 
colony  ;  not,  as  in  our  case,  that  of  co-equal  States  united  by  Fede- 
ral compact.  It  has  ever  been  considered  the  proper  function  an<t 
duty  of  neutral  powers  to  perform  the  office  of  judging  whether  id 
point  of  fact  the  nation  asserting  dominion  is  able  to  make  good  its' 
pretensions  by  force  of  arms,  and  if  not,  by  recognition  of  th<s  resist- 
ing party,  to  discountenance  the  further  continuance  of  the  contest'. 
And  the  reason  why  this  duty  is  incumbent  on  neutral  powers  is 
plainly  apparent,  when  we  reflect  that  the  pride  and  passion  whicB 
blind  the  judgment  of  the  parties  to  the  conflict  cause  the  continuance 
of  active  warfare,  and  consequent  useless  slaughter,  long  after  the 
inevitable  result  has  become  apparent  to  all  not  engaged  in  the  strug- 
gle. So  long,  therefore,  as  neutral  nations  fail  by  recognition  of  our 
independence  to  announce  that,  in  their  judgment,  the  United  States 
are  unable  to  reduce  the  Confederacy  to  submission,  their  conduct 
will  be  accepted  by  our  enemies  as  a  tacit  encouragement  to  continue 
their  eiforts,  and  as  an  implied  assurance  that  belief  is  entertained  by 
neutral  nations  in  the  success  of  their  designs.  A  direct  stimulus, 
whether  intentional  or  not,  is  thus  applied  to  securing  a  continuance 
of  the  carnage  and  devastation  which  desolate  this  continent,  and 
which  they  profess  deeply  to  deplore. 

The  disregard  of  this  just,  humane,  and  Christian  public  duty  by 
t!he  nations  of  Europe  is  the  more  remarkable  from  the  fact  that 
authentic  expression  has  long  since  been  given  by  the  Governments 
of  both  Prance  and  England  to  the  conviction  that  the  United  States 
are  unable  to  conquer  the  Confederacy.  It  is  now  more  than  two 
years  since  the  Government  of  France  announced  officially  to  the 
Cabinets  of  London  and  St.  Petersburg  its  own  conclusion  that  the 
United  States  were  unable  to  achieve  any  decisive  military  success. 
In  the  answers  sent  by  those  powers  no  intimation  of  a  contrary 
opinion  was  conveyed  ;  and  it  is  notorious  that  in  speeches,  both  in 
and  out  of  Parliament,  the  members  of  Her  Britannic  Majesty's  Gov- 
ernment have  not  hesitated  to  express  this  conviction  in  unqualified 
terras.  The  denial  of  our  right  under  these  circumstances  is  so 
obviously  unjust,  and  discriminates  so  unfairly  in  favor  of  the  United 
States,  that  neutrals  have  sought  to  palliate  the  wrong  of  which  they 
are  conscious,  by  professing  to  consider,  in  opposition  to  notorious 
truth  and  to  the  known  belief  of  both  belligerents,  that  the  recogni- 
tion of  our  independence  would  be  valueless  without  their  further 
intervention  in  the  struggle  ;    an  intervention  of  which   we  disclaim 


the  desire  and  mistrust  the"  advantage.  We  seek  no  favor,  we  wish  no 
intervention,  we  know  ourselves  fully  competent  to  maintain  our  own 
rights  and  independence  against  the  invaders  of  our  country,  and  we 
feel  justified  in  asserting,  that  without  the  aid  derived  from  recruiting 
their  armies  from  foreign  countries,  the  invaders  would,  ere  this,  have 
been  driven  from  our  soil.  When  the  recognition  of  the  Confederacy 
was  refused  by  Great  Britain,  in  the  fall  of  1882,  the  refusal  was^ 
excused  on  the  ground  that  any  action  by  Her  Majesty's  Government4 
would  have  the  effect  of  inflaming  the  passions  of  the  belligerents 
and  of  preventing  the  return  of  peace.  It  is  assumed  that  this  opin- 
ion was  sincerely  entertained  ;  but  the  experience  of  two  years  of 
unequalled  carnage,  shows  that  it  was  erroneous,  and  that  the  result 
was  the  reverse  of  what  the  British  ministry  humanely  desired.  A 
contrary  policy,  a  policy  just  to  us,  a  policy  diverging  from  an  unva- 
rying course  of  concession  to  all  the  demands  of  our  enemies,  is  still 
within  the  power  of  Her  Majesty's  Government,  and  would,  it  is  fair 
to  presume,  be  productive  of  consequences  the  opposite  of  those  which 
have  unfortunately  followed  its  whole  course  of  conduct  from  the  com- 
mencement of  the  War  to  the  present  time.  In  a  word,  peace  is  im- 
possible without  independence,  and  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  the 
enemy  will  anticipate  neutrals  in  the  recognition  of  that  independence. 
When  the  history  of  this  war  shall  be  fully  disclose  1,  the  calm  judg- 
ment of  the  impartial  publicist  will,  for  these  reasons,  be  unable  to 
absolve  the  neutial  nations  of  Europe  from  a  share  in  the  moral 
responsibility  for  the  myriads  of  human  live3  that  have  been  unneces- 
sarily sacrificed  during  its  progress. 

The  renewed  instances  in  which  foreign  powers  have  given  us  ju*t 
cause  of  complaint  need  not  here  be  detailed.  The  extracts  from  tho 
correspondence  of  the  State  Department,  which  accompany  this  mes- 
sage, will  afford  such  further  information  as  can  be  given  without 
detriment  to  the  public  interest,  and  we  must  reserve  for  the  future 
such  action  as  may  then  be  deemed  advisable  to  secure  redress. 

Finances. 

Your  special  attention  is  earnestly  invited  to  the  report  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  submitted  in  conformity  with  law.  The 
facts  therein  disclosed  are  far  from  discouraging,  and  demonstrate 
that,  with  judicious  legislation,  we  shall  be  enabled  to  meet  all  the 
exigencies  of  the  war  from  our  abundant  resources,  and  aVoid,  at  the 
same  time,  such  an  accumulation  of  debt  a3  would  render  at  all  doubt- 
ful our  capacity  to  redeem  it. 

The  total  receipts  into  the  treasury  for  the  two  quarters  ending  on 
the  3Uh  September,  1864,  were  $41  5, 1 9 1 ,550,  which  sum,  added  to 
the  balance  of  $308,2S2,722,  that  remained  in  tho  treasury  on  tho 
1st  April  last,  forms  a  total  of  $723,474,272.  Of  this  total,  not  far 
from  half,  that  is  to  say,  $342,550,327,  have  been  applied  to  the  ex,- 
ti notion  of  the  public  debt,  while  the  total  expenditures  have  been 
$  272,378,505,  leaving  a  balance  in  tho  treasury  on  the  1st  October, 
1864,  of  $108,435,440. 


6 

The  total  amount  of  the  public  debt,  as  exhibited  oa  the  books 
of  the  Register  of  the  Treasury,  on  the  1st  October,  1864,  was 
$1,147,970,208,  of  which  $530,340,090  were  funded  debt,  bearing 
interest,  $283,880,150  were  treasury  notes  of  the  new  issue,  and  the 
remainder  consisted  of  the  former  issue  of  treasury  notes  which  will 
be  converted  into  other  forms  of  debt  and  will  cease  to  exist  as  cur- 
rency on  the  31st  of  next  month. 

The  report,  however,  explains  that,  in  consequence  of  the  absence 
of  certain  returns  from  distant  officers,  the  true  amount  of  the  debt 
is  less,  by  about  twenty-one  and  a  half  millions  of  dollars,  than  ap- 
pears on  the  books  of  the  Register,  and  that  the  total  public  debt 
on  the  first  of  last  month,  may  be  fairly  considered  to  have  been 
$1,126,381,095. 

The  increase  of  the  public  debt  during  the  six  months  from  the  1st 
April  to  the  1st  October,  was  $97,650,780,  being  rather  more  than 
$16,000,000  per  month,  and  it  will  be  apparent,  en  a  perusal  of  the 
report,  that  this  augmentation  would  have  been  avoided,  and  a  posi- 
tive reduction  of  the  amount  would  have  been  effected,  but  for  cer- 
tain defects  in  the  legislation  on  the  subject  of  the  'finances,  which 
are  pointed  out  in  the  report,  and  which  seem  to  admit  of  easy 
remedy. 

In  the  statements  just  made  the  foreign  debt  is  omitted.  It  consists 
only  of  the  unpaid  balance  of  the  loan  knfcwn  as  the  cotton  loan. 
This  balance  is  but  £2,200,000,  aad  is  adequately  provided  for  by 
about  250,000  bales  of  cotton  owned  by  the  Government,  even  if  the 
cotton  be  rated  as  worth  but  six  pence  per  pound. 

There  is  one  item  of  the  public  debt  not  included  in  the  tables  pre- 
sented, to  which  your  attention  is  required.  The  bounty  bonds 
promised  to  our  soldiers  by  the  third  section  of  the  act  of  17th  Feb- 
ruary, 1864,  were  deliverable  on  the  1st  October.  The  Secretary  has 
been  unable  to  issue  them  by  reason  of  an  omission  in  the  law,  no 
time  being  therein  fixed  for  the  payment  of  the  bonds. 

The  aggregate  appropriations  called  for  by  the  different  depart- 
ments of  the  Government,  according  to  the  estimates  submitted  with 
the  report,  for  the  six  months  ending  on  the  30th  June,  1865,  amount 
to  $438,102,679,  while  the  Secretary  estimates  that  there  will  remain 
unexpended,  out  of  former  appropriations,  on  the  1st  January,  1865, 
a  balance  of  $467,416,504.  It  would,  therefore,  seem  that  former 
estimates  have  been  largely  in  excess  of  actual  expenditures,  and  that 
no  additional  appropriations  are  required  for  meeting  the  needs  of  the 
public  service  up  to  the  1st  July  of  next  year.  Indeed,  if  tho  esti- 
mates now  presented  should  prove  to  be  as  much  in  excess  of  actual 
-expenditures  as  has  heretofore  been  the  case,  a  considerable  balance 
vill  still  remain  unexpended  at  the  close  of  the  first  half  of  the 
•ensuing  year. 

The  chief  difficulty  to  be  apprehended  in  connection  with  our 
finances,  results  from  the  depreciation  of  the  treasury  notes  which 
seems  justly  to  be  attributed  by  the  Secretary  to  two  causes,  redun- 
dancy in  amount  and  want  of  confidence  in  ultimate  redemption  ;  for 


both  of  which,  remedies  are  suggested  that  will  commend  themselves 
to  your  consideration  as  being  practicable  as  well  as  efficient. 

The  main  features  of  the  plan  presented  are  substantially  these : 
1st.  That  the  faith  of  the  Government  be  pledged  that  the  notes  shall 
ever  remain  exempt  from  taxation.  2d.  That  no  issue  shall  be  made 
beyond  that  which  is  already  authorized  by  law.  3d.  That  a  certain 
fixed  portion  of  the  annual  receipts  from  taxation  during  the  war 
shall  be  set  apart  specially  for  the  gradual  extinction  of  the  out- 
standing amount  until  it  shall  have  been  reduced  to  $150,000,000  ; 
and  4th.  The  pledge  and  appropriation  of  such  proportion  of  the 
tax  in  kind,  and  for  such  number  of  years  after  the  return  of  peace, 
as  shall  be  sufficient  for  the  final  redemption  of  the  entire  circulation. 
The  details  of  the  plan,  the  calculations  on  which  it  is  based,  the 
efficiency  of  its  operation,  and  the  vast  advantages  which  would  re- 
sult from  its  success  are  fully  detailed  in  the  report,  and  cannot  be 
fairly  presented  in  a  form  sufficiently  condensed  for  this  message.  I 
doubt  not  it  will  receive  from  you  that  earnest  and  candid  considera- 
tion which  is  merited  by  the  importance  of  the  subject. 

The  recommendations  of  the  report  for  the  repeal  of  certain  pro- 
visions of  the  tax  laws  which  produce  inequality  in  the  burthen  of 
taxation ;  for  exempting  all  Government  loans  from  taxation  on  capi- 
tal, and  from  any  adverse  discrimination  in  taxation  on  income 
derived  from  them ;  for  placing  the  taxation  on  banks  on  the  same 
footing  as  the  taxation  of  other  corporate  bodies;  for  securing  the 
payment  into  the  treasury  of  that  portion  of  the  bank  circulation 
which  is  liable  to  confiscation  because  held  by  alien  enemies;  for  the 
conversion  of  the  interest-bearing  treasury  notes  now  outstanding 
into  coupon  bonds,  and  for  the  quarterly  collection  of  taxation  ;  all 
present  practical  questions  for  legislation,  which,  if  wisely  devised, 
will  greatly  improve  the  public  credit,  and  alleviate  the  burthens  now 
imposed  by  the  extreme  and  unnecessary  depreciation  in  the  value 
of  the  currency. 

The  returns  of  the  Produce  Loan  Bureau  are  submitted  with  the 
report,  and  the  information  is  conveyed,  that  the  Treasury  Agency 
in  the  trans-Mississippi  Department  has  been  fully  organized,  and  is 
now  in  operation  with  promise  of  efficiency  and  success. 

The  provisions  heretofore  made  to  some  extent  for  increasing  the 
compensation  of  public  officers,  civil  and  military,  is  found  to  be  in 
some  places  inadequate  to  their  support ;  perhaps  not  more  so  any- 
where than  in  Richmond,  and  enquiry,  with  a  view  to  appropriate 
remedy,  is  suggested  to  your  consideration.  Your  notice  is  also 
called  to  the  condition  of  certain  officers  of  the  Treasury,  who  were 
omitted  in  the  laws  heretofore  passed  for  the  relief  of  other  public 
officers,  as  mentioned  in  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

Department  of  War. 

The  condition  of  the  various  branches  of  the  military  service  is 
stated  in  the  accompanying  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War.     Anion" 


8 

the  suggestions  made  for  legislative  action" with  a  view  to  add  to  the 
numbers  and  efficiency  of  the  army,  all  of  which  will  receive  your 
consideration,  there  are  some  prominent  topics  which  merit  special 
notice. 

The  exemption  from  military  duty  now  accorded  by  law  to  all  per- 
sons engaged  in  certain  specified  pursuits  or  professions  is  shown  by 
experience  to  be  unwise,  nor  is  it  believed  to  be  defensible  in  theory. 
Ihe  defence  of  home,  family  and  country  is  universally  recognized  as 
the  paramount  political  duty  of  every  member  of  society  ;  and  in  a 
form  of  government  like  ours,  where,  each  citizen  enjoys  an  equality 
of  rights  and  privileges,  nothing  can  be  more  invidious  than  an  un- 
equal distribution  of  duties  and  obligations.  No  pursuit  nor  position 
should  relieve  any  one  who  is  able  to  do  active  duty,  from  enrolment* 
in  the  army,  unless  his  functions  or  services  are  more  useful  to  the 
defence  of  his  country  in  another  sphere.  But  it  is  manifest  that 
this  cannot  be  the  case  with  entire  classes.  All  telegraph  operators,, 
workmen  in  mines,  professors,  teachers,  engineers,  editors  and  em- 
ployees of  newspapers,  journeymen  printers,  shoemakers,  tanners, 
blacksmiths,  millers,  physicians,  and  the  numerous  other  classes  men- 
tioned in  the  laws,  cannot  in  the  nature  of  things  be  either  equally 
necessary  in  their  several  professions,  nor  distributed  throughout  the 
country  in  such  proportions  that  only  the  exact  numbers  required  are 
found  in  each  locality  ;  nor  can  it  be  everywhere  impossible  to  re- 
place those  within  the  conscript  age,  by  men  older  and  less  capable  of 
active  field  services.  A  discretion  should  be  vested  in  the  military 
authorities,  so  that  a  sufficient  number  of  those  essential  to  the  public 
service  might  be  detailed  to  continue  the  exercise  of  their  pursuits  or 
professions,  but  the  exemption  from  service  of  the  entire  classes  should 
be  wholly  abandoned.  It  affords  great  facility  for  abuses,  offers  the 
temptation,  as  well  as  the  ready  moans,  of  escaping  service  by  fraud- 
ulent devices,  and  is  one  of  the  principal  obstructions  to  the  efficient 
operation  of  the  conscript  laws.' 

A  general  militia  law  is  needful  in  the  interest  of  the  public  defence. 
The  Constitution,  by  vesting  the  power  in  Congress,  imposes  on  it  the 
duty  of  providing  "  for  organizing,  arming  and  disciplining  the  militia, 
and  for  governing  such  part  of  them  as  may  be  employed  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  Confederate  States."  The  great  diversity  in  the  legisla- 
tion of  the  several  States  on  this  subject,  and  the  absence  of  any 
provision  establishing  an  exact  method  for  calling  the  militia  into 
Confederate  service,  are  sources  of  embarrassment  which  ought  no 
longer  to  be  suffered  to  impede  defensive  measures. 

The  legislation  in  relation  to  the  cavalry  demands  change.  The 
policy  of  requiring  the  men  to  furnish  their  own  horses  has  proven 
pernicious  in  many  respects.  It  interferes  with  discipline,  impairs 
efficiency,  and  is  tiie  cauae  of  frequent  and  prolonged  absence  from 
appropriate  duty.  The  subject  is  fully  treated  in  the  Secretary's  re- 
port with  suggestions  as  to  the  proper  measures  for  reforming  that 
branch  of  the  service. 

The  recommendation   hitherto  often  made  is    again  renewed,  that 


some  measure  be  adopted  for  the  reorganization  and  consolidation  of 
companies  and  regiments  when  so  far  reduced  in  numbers  as  seriously 
to  impair  their  efficiency.  It  is  the  more  necessary  that  this  should 
be  done,  as  the  absence  of  legi-slation  on  the  subject  has  forced  Gen- 
erals in  the  field  to  resort  to  various  expedients  for  approximating  the 
desired  end.  It  is  surely  an  evil  that  a  commanding  officer  should  bo 
placed  in  a  position  which  forces  upon  him  the  choice  of  allowing  the 
efficiency  of  his  command  to  be  seriously  impaired,  or  of  attempting 
to  supply  by  the  exercise  of  doubtful  authority  the  want  of  proper 
legal  provision.  The  regard  for  the  sensibility  of  officers  who  have 
heretofore  served  with  credit,  and  which  is  believed  to  be  the  control- 
ing  motive  that  has  hitherto  obstructed  legislation  on  this  subject, 
however  honorable  and  proper,  may  be  carried  to  a  point  which  seri- 
ously injures  the  public  good  ;  and  if  this  be  the  case  it  can  scarcely 
be  questioned  which  of  the  two  considerations  should  be  deemed  par- 
amount. 

The  Secretary's  recommendations  on  the  subject  of  facilitating  the 
acquisition  of  the  iron  required  for  maintaining  the  efficiency  of  rail- 
road communication  on  the  important  military  lines  are  commended 
to  your  favor.  The  necessity  for  the  operation  in  full  vigor  of  such 
lines  is  too  apparent  to  need  comment. 

The  question  in  dispute  between  the  two  Governments  relative  to 
the  exchange  of  prisoners  of  war  has  been  frequently  presented  in 
former  messages  and  reports,  and  is  fully  treated  by  the  Secretary. 
The  solicitude  of  the  Government  for  the  relief  of  our  captive  fellow- 
citizens,  has  known  no  abatement ;  but  has,  on  the  contrary,  been  still 
moro  deeply  evoked  by  the  additional  sufferings  to  which  they  have 
been  wantonly  subjected,  by  deprivation  of  adequate  food,  clothing 
and  fuel,  which  they  were  not  even  permitted  to  purchase  from  the 
prison  sutlers.  Finding  that  the  enemy  attempted  to  excuse  their 
barbarous  treatment  by  the  unfounded  allegation  that  it  was  retaliatory 
for  like  conduct  on  our  part,  an  offer  was  made  by  us  with  a  view  of 
ending  all  pretext  for  such  recriminations,  or  pretended  retaliation. 

The  offer  has  been  accepted,  and  each  Government  is,  hereafter,  to 
be  allowed  to  provide  necessary  comforts  to  its  own  citizens  held  cap- 
tive by  the  other.  Active  efforts  are  in  progress  for  the  immediate 
execution  of  this  agreement,  and  it  is  hoped  that  but  few  days  will 
elapse  before  we  shall  bo  relieved  from  the  distressing  thought  that 
painful  physical  suffering  is  endured  by  so  many  of  our  fellow  citizens 
whose  fortitude  in  captivity  illustrates  the  national  character  as  fully 
as  did  their  Yalor  in  actual  conflict. 

Employment  of   Slaves. 

The  employment  of  slaves  for  service  with  the  army  as  teamsters, 
or  cooks,  or  in  the  way  of  work  upon  fortifications,  or  in  the  Govern- 
ment workshops,  or  in  hospitals,  and  other  similar  duties,  was  author- 
ized by  the  act  of  1 7th  February  last,  and  provision  was  made  for 
their  impressment-to  a  number  not  exceeding  twenty  thousand,  if  it 


IU 

should  be  found  impracticable  to  obtain  them  by  contract  with  the 
owners.  The  law  contemplated  the  hiring  only  of  the  labor  of  these 
slaves  and  imposed  on  the  Government  the  liability  to  pay  for  the 
value  of  such  as  might  be  lost  to  the  owners  from  casualties  resulting 
from  their  employment  in  the  service. 

This  act  has  produced  less  result  than  was  anticipated,  and  further 
provision  is  required  to  render  it  efficacious.  But  my  present  purpose 
is  to  invite  your  consideration  to  the  propriety  of  a  radical  modifica- 
tion in  the  theory  of  the  law. 

Viewed  merely  as  property,  and  therefore  as  the  subject  of  impress- 
ment the  service  or  labor  of  the  slave  has  been  frequently  claimed  for 
short  periods,  in  the  construction  of  defensive  works.  The  slave, 
however,  bears  another  relation  to  the  State,  that  of  a  person.  The 
law  of  last  February  contemplates  only  the  relation  of  the  slave  to 
the  master,  and  limits  the  impressment  to  a  certain  term  of  service. 
But  for  the  purposes  enumerated  in  the  act,  instruction  in  the  manner 
of  encamping,  marching  and  parking  trains  is  needful,  so  that  even 
in  this  limited  employment,  length  of  service  adds  greatly  to  the  value 
of  the  negro's  labor.  Hazard  is  also  encountered  in  all  the  positions 
to  which  negroes  can  be  assigned  for  service  with  the  army,  and  the 
duties  required  of  them  demand  loyalty  and  zeal.  In  this  aspect  the 
relation  of  person  predominates  so  far  as  to  render  it  doubtful  whether 
the  private  right  of  property  can  consistently  and  beneficially  be  con- 
tinued, and  it  would  seem  proper  to  acquire  for  the  public  service  the 
entire  property  in  the  labor  of  the  slave,  and  to  pay  therefor  due 
compensation,  rather  than  to  impress  his  labor  for  short  terms  ;  and 
this  the  more  especially  as  the  effect  of  the  present  law  would  vest 
this  entire  property  in  all  cases  where  the  slave  might  be  recaptured 
after  compensation  for  his  loss  had  been  paid  to  the  private  owner. 
Whenever  the  entire  property  in  the  service  of  a  slave  is  thug  acquired 
by  the  Government,  the  question  is  presented,  by  what  tenure  he 
should  be  held.  Should  he  be  retained  in  servitude  or  should  his 
emancipation  be  held  out  to  him  as  a  reward  for  faithful  service,  or 
should  it  be  granted  at  once  on  the  promise  of  such  service  ;  and  if 
emancipated,  what  action  should  be  taken  to  secure  for  the  freed-man 
the  permission  of  the  State  from  which  he  was  drawn  to  reside  within 
its  limits  after  the  close  of  his  public  service.  The  permission  would 
doubtless  be  more  readily  accorded  as  a  reward  for  past  faithful  ser- 
vice ;  and  a  double  motive  for  zealous  discharge  of  duty  would  thus 
be  offered  to  those  employed  by  the  Government,  their  freedom,  and 
the  gratification  of  the  local  attachment  which  is  so  marked  a  charac- 
teristic of  the  negro,  and  forms  so  powerful  an  incentive  to  his  action. 
The  policy  of  engaging  to  liberate  the  negro  on  his  discharge  after 
service  faithfully  rendered,  seems  to  me  preferable  to  that  of  granting 
immediate  manumission,  or  that  of  retaining  him  in  servitude.  If 
this  policy  should  recommend  itself  to  the  judgment  of  Congress,  it 
is  suggested  that,  in  addition  to  the  duties  heretofore  performed  by  the 
slave,  he  might  be  advantageously  employed  as  pioneer  and  engineer 
laborer  ;  and  in  that  event,  that  the  number  should  be  augmented  to 
forty  thousand. 


11 

Beyond  this  limit  and  these  employments  it  does  not  seem  to  me  de- 
sirable, under  existing  circumstances,  to  go.  A  broad  moral  distinc- 
tion exists  between  the  use  of  slaves  as  soldiers  in  the  defence  of  their 
homes,  and  the  incitement  of  the  same  persons  to  insurrection  against 
their  masters.  The  one  is  justifiable  if  necessary,  the  other  is 
iniquitous  and  unworthy  of  a  civilized  people  ;  and  such  is  the  judg- 
ment of  all  writers  on  public  law,  as  well  as  that  expressed  and  in- 
sisted on  by  our  enemies  in  all  Wars  prior  to  that  now  waged  against 
us.  By  none  have  the  practices,  of  which  they  are  now  guilty,  been 
denounced  with  greater  severity  than  by  themselves  in  the  two  wars 
with  Great  Britain  in  the  last  and  in  the  present  century  ;  and  in  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  of  1776,  when  enumeration  was  made 
of  the  wrongs  which  justified  the  revolt  from  Great  Britain,  the  climax 
of  atrocity  was  deemed  to  be  reached  only  when  the  English  monarch 
was  denounced  as  having  "  excited  domestic  insurrections  amongst 
us." 

The  subject  is  to  be  viewed  by  us,  therefore,  solely  in  the  light  of 
policy  and  our  social  economy.  When  so  regarded,  I  must  dissent  from 
those  who  advise  a  general  levy  and  arming  of  the  slaves  for  the  duty 
of  soldiers.  Until  our  white  population  shall  prove  insufficient  for  the 
armies  we  require  and  can  afford  to  keep  in  the  field,  to  employ  as  a 
ioldier  the  negro  who  has  merely  been  trained  to  labor,  and  as  a  laborer 
the  white  man  accustomed  from  his  youth  to  the  use  of  fire  arms, 
would  scarcely  be  deemed  wise  or  advantageous  by  any :  and  this  is 
the  question  now  before  us.  But  should  the  alternative  ever  be  pre- 
sented of  subjugation  or  of  the  employment  of  the  slave  as  a  soldier, 
there  seems  no  reason  to  doubt  what  should  then  be  our  decision. 
Whether  our  view  embraces  what  would,  in  so  extreme  a  case,  be  the 
sum  of  misery  entailed  by  the  dominion  of  the  enemy,  or  be  restricted 
solely  to  the  effect  upon  the  welfare  and  happiness  of  the  negro  popu- 
lation themselves,  the  result  would  be  the  same.  The  appalling  de- 
moralization, suffering,  disease  and  death  which  have  been  caused  by 
partially  substituting  the  invaders'  system  of  police,  for  the  kind  re- 
lation previously  subsisting  between  the  master  and  slave,  have  been 
a  sufficient  demonstration  that  external  interference  with  our  institu- 
tion of  domestic  slavery  is  productive  of  evil  only.  If  the  subject 
involved  no  other  consideration  than  the  mere  right  of  property,  the 
sacrifices  heretofore  made  by  our  people  have  been  such  as  to  permit 
no  doubt  of  their  readiness  to  surrender  every  possession  in  order  to 
secure  their  independence.  But  the  social  and  political  question 
whi WMb  exclusively  under  the  control  of  the  several  States,  has  a  far 
wider  and  more  enduring  importance  than  that  of  pecuniary  interest. 
In  its  manifold  phases  it  embraces  the  stability  of  our  republican  in- 
stitutions, resting  on  the  actual  political  equality  of  all  its  citizens, 
and  includes  the  fulfillment  of  the  task  which  has  been  so  happily  be- 
gun— that  of  christianizing,  and  improving  the  condition  of  the  Africans 
who  have,  by  the  will  of  Providence,  been  placed  in  our  charge. 
Comparing  the  results  of  our  own  experience  with  those  of  the  experi- 
ments of  others  who  have  borne  similar  relation  to  the  African  race, 


n 

the  people  of  the  several.  States  of  the  Confederacy  have  abundant 
reason  to  be  satisfied  with  the  past,  and  to  use  the  greatest  circum- 
spection in  determining  their  course.  These  considerations,  how- 
ever, are  rather  applicable  to  the  improbable  contingency  of  our  need 
of  resorting  to  this  element  of  resistance  than  to  our  present  condi- 
tion. If  the  recommendation  above  made,  for  the  training  of  forty 
thousand  negroes  for  the  service  indicated,  shall  meet  your  approval, 
it  is  certain  that  even  this  limited  number,  by  their  preparatory  training 
in  intermediate  duties,  would  form  a  more  valuable  reserve  force,  in 
case  of  urgency,  than  three-fold  their  number  suddenly  called  from 
field  labor  ;  while  a  fresh  levy  could,  to  a  certain  extent,  supply  their 
places  in  the  special  service  for  which  they  are  now  employed. 

Other  Departments. 

The  regular  annual  reports  of  the  Attorney  General,  the  Secretary 
of  the  Navy  and  the  Postmaster  General  are  appended,  and  give 
any)le  information  relative  to  the  condition  of  the  respective  depart- 
ments. They  contain  suggestions  for  legislative  provisions  required 
to  remedy  such  defects  in  the  existing  laws  as  have,  been  disclosed  by 
experience,  but  none  of  so  general  or  important  a  character  as  to  re- 
quire that  I  should  do  more  than  recommend  them  to  your  favorable 
consideration. 

Negotiations  for  Peace. 

The  disposition  of  this  Government  for  a  peaceful  solution  of  the 
issues  which  the  enemy  has  referred  to  the  arbitrament  of  arms,  has 
been  too  often  manifested,  and  is  too  well  known  to  need  new  assur- 
ances. But  while  it  is  true  that  individuals  and  parties  in  the  United 
States  have  indicated  a  desire  to  substitute  reason  for  force,  and  by 
negotiation  to  stop  the  further  sacrifice  of  human  life,  and  to  arrest 
the  calamities  which  now  afflict  both  countries,  the  authorities  who 
control  the  government  of  our  enemies  have  too  often  and  too  clearly 
expressed  their  resolution  to  make  no  peace  except  on  terms  of  our 
unconditional  submission  and  degradation,  to  leave  us  any  hope  of 
the  cessation  of  hostilities  until  the  delusion  of  their  ability  to  con- 
quer us  is  dispelled.  Among  those  who  are  already  disposed  for 
peace,  many  are  actuated  by  principle  and  by  disapproval  and  abhor- 
rence of  the  iniquitous  warfare  that  their  government  is  waging, 
while  others  are  moved  by  the  conviction  that  it  is  no  longer^  the 
interest  of  the  United  States  to  continue  a  struggle  in  which  success 
is  unattainable.  Whenever  this  fast-growing  conviction  shall  have 
taken  firm  root  in  the  minds  of  a  majority  of  the  Northern  people, 
there  will  be  produced  that  willingness  to  negotiate  for  peace  which 
is  noW  confined  to  our  side.  Peace  i3  manifestly  impossible  unless 
desired  by  both  parties  to  this  war,  and  the  disposition  for  it  among 
our  enemies  will  be  best  and  most  certainly  evoked  by  the  demonstra- 
tion on  our  part  of  ability  and  unshaken  determination  to  defend  ou? 


13 

rights,  and  to  hold  no  earthly  price  too  dear  for  their  purchase. 
Whenever  there  shall  be  on  the  part  of  our  enemies  a  desire  for  peace, 
there  will  be  no  difficulty  in  finding  means  by  which  negotiation  can 
bo  opened  ;  but  it  is  obvious  that  no  agency  can  be  called  into  action 
until  this  desire  shall  be  mutual.  When  that  contingency  shall  hap- 
pen, the  Government,  to  which  is  confided  the  treaty-making  power, 
can  be  at  no  loss  for  means  adapted  to  accomplish  bo  desirable  an  end. 
In  the  hope  that  the  day  will  soon  be  reached,  when,  under  Divine 
favor,  these  States  may  be  allowed  to  enter  on  their  former  peaceful 
pursuits,  and  to  develope  the  abundant  natural  resources  with  which 
they  are  blessed,  let  us  then  resolutely  continue  to  devote  our  united 
and  unimpaired  energies  to  the  defence  of  our  homes,  our  lives  and 
our  liberties.  This  is  the  true  path  to  peace.  Let  us  tread  it  with 
confidence  in  the  assured  result. 

JEFFEESON  DAVIS. 
^Richmond,  November  7ihf  1864. 


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